WawonaNews.com - June 2012
Yosemite National Park Announces Half Dome Cables in Place on Friday, May 25
Scott Gediman 209-372-0248
Kari Cobb 209-372-0529
The cables allowing access for hikers to the summit of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park will be in place and open for the season on Friday, May 25, 2012, weather permitting.
Visitors are required to have a permit to ascend the Half Dome cables seven days per week. The majority of the permits were distributed through a lottery system that ended in March. However, approximately 50 permits per day are available through a two day in advance lottery. Visitors without a Half Dome permit wishing to hike the cables may enter the lottery two days in advance of their planned day hike by visiting www.recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777. For more information regarding the lottery and the Half Dome cables, please visit www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/halfdome.htm.
The trail to Half Dome from Yosemite Valley is an extremely strenuous hike covering over 17 miles. Hikers gain 4,800 feet of elevation along the trail that passes highlights such as Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall, before reaching the cables on Half Dome’s steep granite shoulder. Metal cables and wooden planks are placed along the steep shoulder of the dome to assist hikers to the summit.
Visitors are advised to take appropriate precautions when planning a hike of this length and difficulty, and to be prepared for changing weather and trail conditions. Thunder and lightning are common occurrences in the High Sierra during the summer and fall seasons. Hikers should not attempt to summit Half Dome when rain or thunderstorms are forecasted and are advised to use extreme caution when the rocks are wet. (K. Cobb)
Home for Lease
Lease cabin 8B where you can listen to Chilnualna Creek and South Fork of the Merced from hot tub on deck. $2,500 per month for home that is in like new condition. - 2592 Van Campen Way - quiet and private area - 2 story home with upstairs loft which can be used as third bedroom - open architecture, vaulted ceilings, semi private living areas except for master bedroom - 2 stories of picture windows that beautifully frames tall pine trees - 1 and 1/2 bath, shower only - 20 year old house, like new condition - fully furnished and decorated in national park theme - option to furnish and decorate home yourself with 1 year - lease or longer - dishwasher, dish disposal, pine cabinets - propane heating and cooking - river rock fireplace with large wood mantle - satellite TV available - high speed internet available - no cell phone service, land line in place - no washer or dryer, facility close by - no garage or covered outdoor storage, some storage under deck (not dry) - uncovered RV parking with room for 1 - 2 more cars - no smoking - move in discount with excellent housing history - no subletting, home business or long term camping - all utilities/services/firewood extra - available approximately Nov 2012 -6 month minimum lease, prefer 1 year or longer - move in with approved application, signed lease, 1st, last and $2,000 deposit - pets OK with $500 non refundable deposit per pet email: [email protected] Desiree Nelson 541-968-1731 |
|
Wawona Northwest Prescribed Fire Project has been postponed indefinitely.
May 16, 2012
The 846 acre Wawona Northwest Prescribed Fire, that began on May 15, 2012, has been postponed. Fire officials cancelled the project due to concerns for safety to firefighters and the community, and an unsettled weather pattern. A high pressure ridge over the Sierra Nevada is projected for the weekend and may not have allowed enough time to complete the project.
This project is one of the most difficult prescribed fires units within the park due to very steep terrain, with a 2300’ elevation gain. The decision to cancel the project weighed on adequate planning, evaluation of risk, fire ground situational awareness and availability of adequate resources. This decision process is taken on all fires and up to the minute before ignition begins. The intent of the risk analysis is to reduce the subjectivity in evaluating the suitability of completing every prescribed fire project safely.
Specific to the Wawona project, early drying of vegetation, inadequate resources and concerns by fire managers to hold the fire along fire lines led to the uncertainty of successfully mitigating an escape.
The extremely dry winter and early drying of vegetation, points out the importance of property owners to maintain defensible space and clearance of dead and down vegetation within 100 feet of their properties.
The Wawona NW project will be considered for a later date this fall or next spring.
For additional Information:
· Yosemite Fuels and Prescribed Fire Office: [email protected] - (209) 375-9576.
· Yosemite Fire Information and Education: [email protected] – 375-9574 or 372-0480.
· Yosemite Fire Management Website: http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/rx-fire-projects.htm
Wawona Prescribed Fire Postponed
The planned prescribed fire scheduled for today in the Wawona area has been postponed. Due to an unsettled weather pattern and concern for the safety of the community, the 846 prescribed fire will not occur. A later date for the prescribed fire is forthcoming. (D. Neubacher)
New Yosemite Falls Webcam Provides a Spectacular View of North America's Highest Waterfall
Click on the image to view the new webcam
By Yosemite Conservancy
Published: Monday, May. 14, 2012 - 8:19 am
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif., May 14, 2012 -- /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --The majesty of Yosemite Falls, North America's highest waterfall, can now be viewed on Yosemite Conservancy's website thanks to a new webcam. The nonprofit organization is connecting people to Yosemite National Park using webcams and a variety of technologies.
Working in partnership with the National Park Service and Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts at Yosemite, the Yosemite Falls webcam is the fourth supported by the Conservancy and the first to offer a view of a Yosemite waterfall. The other Yosemite Conservancy webcams feature spectacular views of Yosemite landscapes, including Half Dome, El Capitan and the Sierra Nevada mountains.
"The webcams provide windows into Yosemite for people to plan a visit and to be inspired about the need to preserve and protect one of the world's most unique places," said Mike Tollefson, president, Yosemite Conservancy. "This technology makes the park's incredible scenery accessible to anyone, anywhere and at any time. What could be better than starting your day by viewing Yosemite Falls?"
Tollefson said that technology allows more people than ever to connect with the park in new and different ways. More than 400,000 have viewed the webcams annually since 2009. "We added the Yosemite Falls webcam in response to the public's request for live images of this iconic setting," he said.
Yosemite National Park Superintendent Don Neubacher said, "Technology is providing new ways to connect people to Yosemite, help visitors to plan trips and learn about the park. All of this improves the visitor experience."
Millions have viewed the Yosemite Nature Notes online video series, which provides breathtaking and in-depth interpretive programs about Half Dome, Rockfalls and Wildflowers among its 17 episodes. So far, four million have viewed the Frazil Ice episode on YouTube and nearly a half million people have enjoyed another about rainbows seen at night on waterfalls called "moonbows." Podcasts are helping visitors plan trips, and learn about culture, nature and history.
Visit www.yosemiteconservancy.org to view the Yosemite webcams or links to Yosemite Nature Notes online video series.
About Yosemite Conservancy Yosemite Conservancy is the only philanthropic organization dedicated exclusively to the preservation and protection of Yosemite National Park, and enhancement of the visitor experience. Learn more at www.yosemiteconservancy.org or call 1-800-469-7275. Photographs are available upon request.
SOURCE Yosemite Conservancy
Wawona Northwest Prescribed Fire Scheduled for Tuesday Evening, May 15, 2012
Yosemite National Park fire managers are planning the 846 acre, Wawona Northwest Prescribed Fire, to begin on the evening of May 15, 2012. An air quality variance has been requested for marginal air conditions for Tuesday’s ignition. Improving air dispersion is predicted to begin Wednesday and continue through the end of the week, allowing good smoke dispersion. Please Note – these are predictions only, and if stagnant air develops or persists over the Sierra Nevada region, fire managers will postpone the prescribed fire.
An objective of the project is to conduct ecosystem restoration by applying fire to this fire adapted landscape. Prior to the exclusion of fire over 100 years ago, fire was a natural process that played an integral role in shaping the landscape of Yosemite each year. Densities of shade tolerant tree species, such as white fir and incense cedar, and forest litter and duff have accumulated to unnatural and unaccepted levels in the absence of fire. Through the application of fire, a more natural vegetation composition can be achieved that would likely support a surface fire, but less likely to support crown fire.
Another important objective of the prescribed fire is for the direct protection to the community of Wawona from an unwanted wildfire. This project will take advantage of the 2007 Jack Fire perimeter and reduce hazardous fuel loading in the Wawona Wildland Urban Interface area. Burning this segment will form a barrier to the community of Wawona from the spread of unwanted wildfire approaching from Turner Ridge to the north and partially from the South Fork Merced River drainage to the northwest. This project ties together multiple and historical research, natural and prescribed fires, and mechanical thinning.
Community members and visitors have seen equipment and crews moving into the area as they prepare the fire perimeter for fire ignition and operations. A test fire, blackline, will be conducted near the top of the ridge to determine if overall prescribed fire objectives can be met. The blackline is critical to the success of the project by reducing the overall risk to firefighters for an escape along the steep, and difficult, eastern fire line.
Smoke will be present during the prescribed fire, particularly during the early morning hours. Fire managers are working with Mariposa and Tuolumne Counties, San Joaquin Valley, and Great Basin Air Pollution Control Districts (APCDs), daily to time the project to coincide with favorable weather that will facilitate good air quality, and move and disperse smoke into the atmosphere away from the community. A burn permit will be issued to the park by Mariposa County APCD, and air quality measuring devices are being moved to local communities. It is suggested that community members that are sensitive to smoke close windows and doors and/or they may wish to leave the area during active ignition of the project.
This fire segment is identified in the 2004 Yosemite Fire Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement and re included in the Multi-year Strategic Fuels Management Plan. The goals and objectives for this project conform to the park’s General Management Plan and Vegetation Management Plan.
More updates will be published through the duration of the prescribed fire project.
For additional Information:
· Yosemite Fire Information and Education Office: [email protected] - (209) 375-9574 or 372-0480
· Yosemite Fire Management Website: http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/rx-fire-projects.htm
· Yosemite Air Quality Web Page: http://www.nps.gov/yose/naturescience/aqmonitoring.htm
· Yosemite Fire Twitter: http://twitter.com#!/YosemiteFire
Yosemite Fire Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yosemite-Wildland-Fire/124632964255395
Petition Against Proposed Park Changes
Dear Yosemite supporters. This is a petition to help save Yosemite for the visitor. Thank you for considering attaching your name to this very important movement.
Respectfully, Max Stauffer
Concepts include elimination of:
Join us in saving Yosemite for our families.
If you would like to sign the petition, click here.
Please share this information with friends & family. Join us on Facebook by searching "Save Yosemite".
Respectfully, Max Stauffer
- Target: People who like to visit National Parks
- Sponsored by: Save Yosemite
Concepts include elimination of:
- Wawona & Curry Village Stables
- All Yosemite Lodge Units
- Curry Village Ice Rinks
- Raft & Bike Rentals
- Wawona Golf Course & Shop
- Housekeeping Camp (reduce or eliminate)
- Numerous campgrounds (as much as 50% reduction of lodging in the park)
- PLUS - The intiation of a Reservation System meaning you would have to plan ahead months or even years to visit Yosemite.
Join us in saving Yosemite for our families.
If you would like to sign the petition, click here.
Please share this information with friends & family. Join us on Facebook by searching "Save Yosemite".
Yosemite National Park Comments Regarding the Merced River Plan Preliminary Alternative Concepts
Mr. Don Neubacher, Superintendent,
Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau Madera County Preface As you know, the Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau is tasked with marketing the Southern Gateway to Yosemite on the State Highway 41 corridor. In addition, the Bureau has a responsibility to the visitor to advocate on their behalf so that our main attraction, Yosemite National Park, remains “For the benefit and enjoyment of the people”. The above inscription on the Roosevelt Arch at Yellowstone National Park, dedicated in 1903, serves as a reminder to all, including the administrators of the public’s National Parks, that the public is deserving of the right to access their parks. We find it extremely frustrating that while attempting to “appease” the litigants, the Yosemite planners seem to have lost sight of their responsibility to the masses.
After the floods of 1997, Congress appropriated 187 million dollars to “restore damaged property caused directly by the disaster to its pre-damaged condition”. Approximately 17 million dollars of that was to repair the damaged campgrounds. The campgrounds were never repaired and remain closed today. Lodging that was destroyed was never rebuilt.
Staff to the House of Representatives acknowledged that: “It is clear that the National Park Service is using the occasion of the flood to advance an entirely separate agenda from flood restoration”. It is very apparent by many of the alternatives presented in the current iteration, that the Park Service is attempting to advance the agenda of denial to the American and International public. Deny the public adequate campsites, deny the public adequate parking, deny the public lodging, deny the public many recreational opportunities and deny the public unfettered access to its National Park.
Many of the alternatives, under the guise of the wild and scenic rivers act, seek to remove historic bridges, reduce lodging by 50%, remove the skating rink, remove the golf course, remove the stables, close Merced Lakes high country camp, initiate a day use reservation system, increase gate fees, and remove the Yosemite Lodge. To even suggest that any of these alternatives serve “the people” is truly absurd. The wild and scenic rivers act does not require removal or relocation of any development that was in place prior to the river’s designation. The developments slated for removal or relocation were in place prior to 1987, when the Merced River was designated.
Day use increase is a result of massive reductions in lodging and camping, obviously leading to more traffic congestion. Park statistics are very clear that overnight stays have been reduced dramatically (over 400 thousand since 1996). Congestion has been self-inflicted by the Park Service and now the visitor pays the price.
Alternatives Unfortunately, the host of alternatives presented for comment appears to be nothing more than a “shotgun” approach to planning or presentation of efforts. By throwing out a mix of severe and less severe plans in hopes that the public will buy the least invasive one, is an old trick, but a trick none the less. This is akin to offering six dollar a gallon gas instead of ten dollar a gallon gas to assuage the public into accepting the lower but still inflated price. Our bureau cannot accept any of the alternatives. We stand ready to discuss rational alternatives that keep recreational services intact, restore campgrounds lost to the flood, leave the bridges for the enjoyment and use of the public and for public safety and restore parking incrementally lost over the years. We believe the millions of visitors to Yosemite will be better served and continue to have the freedom to access their park.
Sound management of the Merced River corridor without the draconian measures is possible. The Park Service has done an excellent job up to this point in continually providing protections while maintaining access.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment. We look forward to the continuing process. We are hopeful that future MRP presentations will provide opportunities for gateway residents to engage park planners in their various communities.
Respectfully,
Dan Cunning, CEO
Max Stauffer, President
Wawona Golf Course Opens for Season
The Wawona Golf Course will open for the 2012 season on Friday, May 11th. Yosemite's Wawona Golf Course was the first regulation course in the Sierra Nevada when it opened in 1918, and has provided golfers challenging but rewarding rounds ever since. Designed by Walter G. Favarque to blend seamlessly into its spectacular surroundings, this nine-hole, par-35 Yosemite golf course measures 3,050 yards and includes two par-five holes and three par-three holes. Different tee positions per side provide a par-70, 18-hole format. Golfers of every level enjoy the rolling terrain, variety of challenging holes and tranquil setting of this historic course.
Open daily, guests may enjoy a round of golf in Yosemite from Spring to Fall, conditions permitting. |
|
|
|
Wawona Northwest Prescribed Fire Scheduled for Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Yosemite National Park fire managers are planning the 846 acre, Wawona Northwest Prescribed Fire, to begin on the morning of May 15, 2012. Favorable weather is predicted for the project through the week, with conditions for good smoke dispersion. Please Note – these are predictions only, and if stagnant air develops or persists over the Sierra Nevada region, fire managers will postpone the prescribed fire.
The primary objective of the prescribed fire is for the direct protection to the community of Wawona. This project will take advantage of the 2007 Jack Fire perimeter and reduce hazardous fuel loading in the Wawona Wildland Urban Interface area. Burning this segment will form a barrier to the community of Wawona from the spread of unwanted wildfire approaching from Turner Ridge to the north and partially from the South Fork Merced River drainage to the northwest. This project ties together multiple and historical research, natural and prescribed fires, and mechanical thinning.
Another objective for this project is to conduct ecosystem restoration by applying fire to this fire adapted landscape. Prior to the exclusion of fire over 100 years ago, fire was a natural process that played an integral role in shaping the landscape of Yosemite. Densities of shade tolerant tree species, such as white fir and incense cedar, and forest litter and duff have accumulated to unnatural and unaccepted levels in the absence of fire. Through the application of fire, a more natural vegetation composition can be achieved that would likely support a surface fire, but less likely to support crown fire.
Community members and visitors will see equipment and crews moving into the area as they prepare the fire perimeter for fire ignition and operations. Other pre-fire planning efforts include taking fuel moistures and moving remote automated weather (RAWS) equipment into the fire area.
Smoke will be present during the prescribed fire, particularly during the early morning hours. Fire managers are working with the Mariposa and Tuolumne Counties, San Joaquin Valley, and Great Basin Air Pollution Control Districts (APCDs), daily to time the project to coincide with favorable weather that will facilitate good air quality, and move and disperse smoke into the atmosphere away from the community. A burn permit will be issued to the park by the Mariposa County APCD, and air quality measuring devices are being moved to local communities. It is suggested that community members that are sensitive to smoke, close windows and doors and/or they may wish to leave the area during active ignition of the project.
This fire segment is identified in the 2004 Yosemite Fire Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement and re included in the Multi-year Strategic Fuels Management Plan. The goals and objectives for this project conform to the park’s General Management Plan and Vegetation Management Plan.
More updates will be published in the next few days and through the prescribed fire project.
For additional Information:
· Yosemite Fire Information and Education Office: [email protected] - (209) 375-9574 or 372-0480
· Yosemite Fire Management Website: http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/rx-fire-projects.htm
· Yosemite Fire Twitter: http://twitter.com#!/YosemiteFire
Yosemite Fire Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yosemite-Wildland-Fire/124632964255395
Summer Reading Program
Wawona Library Parent Led Summer Reading Program Organization Meeting May 21, 2012 4:00 p.m.
If your children are interested in participating the summer reading program please meet at the Wawona Library May 21, 2012 at 4:00 p.m.
Merced River Plan - New Comment Deadline is Wednesday
Wawona Golf Course
The previously snow-delayed Merced River Plan (MRP) Workshop was held in Wawona today. WAPOA President Gene Spindler asked me to relay the following information to you.Enclosed is a scanned MRP-handout having to do with the Wawona area: - Changes are proposed for the Wawona Store parking lot. YNP expects new parking facilities for the Mariposa Grove will remove about 30% of the peak-season vehicles from the store parking lot. So YNP plans to move the bus parking on the West side of Hwy 41 in Wawona, across the street and into the store parking lot. - The YNP maintenance yard on the north side of the river will be significantly redesigned.
An item OF PARTICULAR CONCERN to some of you may be that TWO of the FIVE proposed alternatives will eliminate the Wawona Golf Course. This is buried in the "Preliminary Alternative Concepts Workbook" in the first paragraph of Alternatives 1 and 2 (pages 16 and 18). Careful questioning of YNP representatives at today's meeting did not provide any information that the golf course has a negative impact on the Merced River. Only that YNP was reflecting some citizen comments at one extreme of the spectrum - as they are required to do.
If you want to comment on golf course removal or why it was included in two of the alternatives, you can do it on-line here:NPS PEPC - Preliminary Alternative Concepts Workbook by Wednesday, May 9.Because of the snow delay, the comment period has been re-opened until next Wednesday, May 9. Online comments should be submitted before midnight (Mountain Standard Time).Chuck Jones,WAPOA BoardYNP Documents pertaining to Wawona are below:
http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/upload/YOSE_MRP_Workbook_Final3-19-12_WEB_READY.pdf
http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/upload/7b_Wawona_Store.pdf
http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/upload/7a_Wawona_MaintArea.pdf
http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/upload/20120409_Icon-Graphic-Elizabeth.pdf
An item OF PARTICULAR CONCERN to some of you may be that TWO of the FIVE proposed alternatives will eliminate the Wawona Golf Course. This is buried in the "Preliminary Alternative Concepts Workbook" in the first paragraph of Alternatives 1 and 2 (pages 16 and 18). Careful questioning of YNP representatives at today's meeting did not provide any information that the golf course has a negative impact on the Merced River. Only that YNP was reflecting some citizen comments at one extreme of the spectrum - as they are required to do.
If you want to comment on golf course removal or why it was included in two of the alternatives, you can do it on-line here:NPS PEPC - Preliminary Alternative Concepts Workbook by Wednesday, May 9.Because of the snow delay, the comment period has been re-opened until next Wednesday, May 9. Online comments should be submitted before midnight (Mountain Standard Time).Chuck Jones,WAPOA BoardYNP Documents pertaining to Wawona are below:
http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/upload/YOSE_MRP_Workbook_Final3-19-12_WEB_READY.pdf
http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/upload/7b_Wawona_Store.pdf
http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/upload/7a_Wawona_MaintArea.pdf
http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/upload/20120409_Icon-Graphic-Elizabeth.pdf
